Rule 194.2 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure requires that each party make initial disclosures within 30 days after the filing of the first answer or general appearance unless a different time is set by the parties’ agreement or court order. In family law cases, each party is required to make disclosures and provide certain financial documents. The purpose of Rule 194 is to allow the exchange of basic discovery automatically without a discovery request.
You need to follow these rules and provide the necessary information in an organized, accurate, and timely manner. This will save you time and money, and could prevent your case from having to go through a full-blown discovery process which can become costly. Our team will guide you through your initial disclosures and help you timely supplement your responses and documents..
What information is required?
In mandatory disclosures, you will need to provide some specific information to the other party or parties within 30 days of the filing of an answer to the suit. In all cases, this information must include:
- The names of the parties in the suit
- Name, address, and phone number of any potential parties or responsible third parties
- The legal theories and factual bases of your claims or defenses to the suit
- Computation of any damages being claimed, and if the suit is alleging damages from an injury, medical records and bills must be produced.
- Names, address, and phone number of people with factual knowledge of your case (potential witnesses)
- Witness Statements
- Indemnity and insuring agreements
- Settlement agreements.
- Any and all documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things in your case that could be used to support your claims or defenses
In divorce cases, additional documentation will be necessary, including:
- All real estate deeds and loan information for any property owned or leased by the parties
- Last two years of statements for any retirement accounts (Pension, 401(k), employee benefits plans, IRA’s, profit-sharing plans)
- All current insurance statements and policies (health, life, liability, and casualty policies)
- Last two years of statements for all financial accounts (including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal loans, and brokerage accounts)
When child or spousal support are at issue, you must also produce:
- Health and dental insurance policies and statement of benefits for any coverage available to you
- Tax returns from the past two years (if no return has been filed, the party’s Form W-2, Form 1099, and Schedule K-1)
- Your three most recent pay stubs
Keep this information updated and supplemented
In many Texas family law and other civil cases, you may not have all the information needed immediately, and certain elements may change over the course of the case. As such, the Rules of Civil Procedure require that a party promptly amend and supplement responses that are incomplete or incorrect when made, or although complete and correct when made, are no longer complete and correct.
This means that you are required to supplement responses and provide new documentation, information, or witnesses as they become available. Provide this information to your attorney immediately so they can work to get the new information admissible at trial. It’s imperative that you stay in close contact with your Texas family law attorney throughout your case to ensure any changes are noted and included in your responses to ensure that you are able to use all evidence at trial. .
Much of what we discussed today was impacted by recent changes to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure made in 2021. Our team is committed to keeping up with such changes so our clients can focus on their cases and what matters to their families. If you are dealing with a Texas family law case, contact Dawn King Law Group right away to make sure you don’t waste time or miss deadlines.